'Brilliant' photographer Rick Hunter, 53, dies

San Antonio photographer Rick Hunter, asked to pose for photographer Billy Calzada's "Last Picture of My Day Series on April 22, 2011. This photo was published in the book "Last Picture of My Day, the First 500."

Photo By Kin Man Hui/ Express-News file photo

Photographer Rick Hunter in San Antonio.

Photo By Rick Hunter

Charreada, San Antonio, Texas

Photo By Rick Hunter

Charreada, San Antonio, Texas

Photo By Rick Hunter

Charreada, San Antonio, Texas

Photo By Rick Hunter

Charreada, San Antonio, Texas

Photo By Rick Hunter

Juan Valdez, Boquillas del Carmen

Photo By Rick Hunter

The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas

Photo By Rick Hunter

Photo By Rick Hunter

Coach Gregg Popovich celebrates the Spurs' first NBA title while cruising down the Riverwalk during the city's victory parade on June 27, 1999.

Photo By Rick Hunter

San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo

Photo By Rick Hunter/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Tejano music star Selena performs at the grand opening of the San Antonio Hard Rock Cafe in this Jan. 25, 1995, file photo. Selena was killed Friday in Corpus Christi, TX. Photo by Rick Hunter

Photo By Express-News file photo

Shelbi and Rick Hunter attend a CD release party in 2010. Rick Hunter, a photographer who died late last year, was a big supporter of local music.

In rough landscapes and strange places, Rick Hunter's camera found beauty and poignancy. His lens captured fleeting details and wondrous views of the most unlikely subjects, unearthing something remarkable that the naked eye overlooked.

His work wallpapered the city, particularly in his beloved Southtown haunts and downtown spaces. Baptist Medical Center is a virtual gallery of Hunter's prints. It's there that he spent two weeks recently battling pneumonia and there that he died Friday.

Hunter was 53.

“He was brilliant,” his partner, Shelbi Lyn Jary, said Saturday. “He could take a picture of just the tiniest detail — it was beautiful in a way we had never imagined.”

Hunter's mother, Kay Hunter of San Antonio, his friend, Joe Uresti, and Jary were with him Friday when he died, Jary said.

“He has been the love of my life for 17 years,” she said. “He made me laugh harder than any person on the planet. He was the most brilliant soul and (had) the most generous heart.”

The self-described documentary and fine art photographer is remembered as an affable, gregarious adventurer with rugged good looks and a straight-shooting style.

In 1991, he joined the San Antonio Express-News, where he worked for 11 years. In 1998, he ruled as King Anchovy at Fiesta's most irreverent event, Cornyation.

Final arrangements are pending with plans for a celebration of Hunter's life later. He is survived by his mother; his son, Maverick Hunter; his brother, Rod Hunter of Austin; Jary, her daughter and 3-year-old granddaughter.

His prints were displayed and sold, many times gifted, to friends and fans throughout the city and beyond.

At Madhatters Tea House and Café, “All the walls were Rick's walls,” said owner Joey Cuellar. A Southtown fixture, Hunter stopped by Madhatters almost every day, Cuellar said, and had become “a big part of our family.” About a year ago, Hunter told Cuellar's wife, Gina, that he wanted Madhatter's and nearby Tito's Mexican Restaurant, another of Hunter's favorites, to host a block party in his memory, Cuellar said.

The Fort Worth native grew up in Brownsville, where he graduated from Pace High School in 1978, the school's quarterback. He joined the U.S. Army after high school and served for eight years. He was stationed for four years at West Point, N.Y., where he discovered photography.

He didn't pick up a camera until he was 28, Jary said. And he never shot in digital, she added.

Hunter worked as a freelance photographer for organizations including the Associated Press, the Washington Post and various magazines and art agencies.

“He approached every assignment with an extraordinary passion, searching for the best artistic photo,” said Bob Owen, chief photographer for the Express-News. “He lived life with a strong determined passion that could not be missed.”

In his final days, Hunter shared updates with his nearly 5,000 Facebook friends. He posted his photos and works by others, and thought it “way uncool” that he couldn't walk more than 15 feet without gasping for breath, but resolved to “roll with it.” His last posting, on Thursday, was a series of photos from a 2005 trip to Mexico with his son, Maverick.

Mexico was a frequent subject for Hunter, as were the small towns of South Texas. As a fine art photographer, he shifted between moody black and white and vibrant color. Hunter's camera of choice was a Rolleiflex.

As recently as last week, he discussed plans to travel to Marfa in West Texas for a photo shoot in December, Jary said.

On Nov. 2, he shared a black-and-white picture of an old woman by her husband's grave, shot in Mexico, noting that Day of the Dead was his favorite day of the year. Two days later, he shared a photo of a seemingly endless two-lane country road under a cobalt sky.

“Really want to be HERE,” Hunter commented. “Don't really care actually where ... just some place, anyplace like HERE. Boom.”

Among the many tributes on his Facebook page after the news of his death, a friend reposted the image of the lonely road and wrote, “I hope you finally made it here ... ”